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Did anyone read this yet? Well, I suppose few have, since the first chapter is due out in Japan in next week's (or was it this week's?) Shounen Magazine. The mangaka is Mashima Hiro. Anyway, I read through it, and I must say I liked it. I didn't stop to translate every word I didn't understand but I think I understood most of the plot.

Anyway, it's your typical shounen manga. The setting is some kind of medieval fantasy world, though not without some modern luxuries. Naruto has ninjas, One Piece has pirates, Bleach has shinigamis, so what does Fairy Tail have? Sorcerers. The plot seems to revolve around sorcerers, and the guilds they make up. Fairy Tail is one such guild.

The main characters introduced in the first chapter are Natsu, who seems to have an affinity for travel sickness, his companion Happy, the cat and the girl Lucy, who really really wants to join Fairy Tail. Here's a quick, probably partly inacurate, synopsis of the first chapter:

Spoiler:

Natsu and Happy are getting off the train in the city of Harujion (someone please work out the katakana ^^). They are looking for a friend of theirs, Ignil(?) the dragon but they stumble upon some sorcerer calling himself Salamander. Salamander has put all the girls in town under his charm, swooning, including Lucy, but Natsu accidently knocks her out of her trance. After Salamander has left she repays him by filling his empty stomach.

This Salamander guy (who is obviously shady) again approaches Lucy and tells her he's the Salamander of Fairy Tail and that he can get her in, if he comes to his party. Now I'm not sure exactly what he's after but he's plotting something against all the girls he invited to his party. Lucy comes along intending to play along until she joins Fairy Tail, but she can't stomach his company for very long. Just when she's about to get hurt, Natsu jumps in through the roof, after having overheard some girls saying that Salamander was a member of Fairy Tail. Natsu reveals that he is indeed also a sorcerer and not only that, after wiping the floor with "Salamander" and his crew, he reveals that he is infact the real Salamander of Fairy Tail. Chapter ends with him bringing Lucy to the entrance of Fairy Tail.

I liked the setting, the characters, the humor and the art, and I really loved the title, I wonder if it was intentional...

Please do. I would offer my assistance translating, but I'm not really fluent enough, so I'd most likely be slow and make plenty of mistakes. I hope you find a translater though, it looks quite promising, I usually don't get this feeling after just one chapter. I haven't read Rave Master, but I certainly agree that it is very similar to One Piece, especially in setting and art.

And here I thought I was the only one who noticed the similarities between the two heros

Seriously though, when I first saw Fairy Tail I thought this was a manga done by Oda-sensei until I saw the giant letters "Hiro Mashima Returns."

Overall, I really liked the first chapter, it was very well done even though I couldn't understand a lick of it, it still grabbed my attention...... mainly cause he looks like freakin Luffy!!! I couldn't resist!!!

By the way, I think that square chin guy was about to brand the girl or something, maybe to show that she's his property now, I hope someone translates soon, please!!!

Also did anyone else notice that on page 3, the girl behind the blue hair guy resembles Robin greatly. Not that that's a bad thing cause Robin's freakin hawt!!!

Why do you say 2 heros.
Just as you said - Ulteia is Robin-chan
Lucy is the prototype of Nami in the one-shot manga for one-piece
If you look closer you can find more.
However - that's even better for me. I love cross-dimension animeS /(manga) ^__^

I find it sort of interesting that his old main character was named Haru (spring) and the new one's named Natsu (summer). Probably a little pun for no reason or something.

Edit: Both names are in katakana, not kanji, so they don't necessarily mean the seasons, but Mashima Hiro revealed in some volume notes that Haru's name was meant to be "spring" with a foreign feeling to it, so...

I very much enjoyed the 2nd chapter as well! A pretty unusual route to introduce the entire secondary cast so soon isn't it? And a very interesting cast at that, I believe I enjoyed Grey the most, at least from a comical perspective. Though watching this whole world through the eyes of the unsuspecting Lucy is one of the manga's big charms right now. (Pun intended. )

Anyone still reading this? I just brushed through the third chapter last night, and it was quite funny, though it's still a bit hard to see where the story might be going. Of course, as always in a shounen manga, the first few chapters could be seen as introductory. Go Tauros! Mooo!

Haha, having read the fourth chapter, this manga really cracks me up. I really think Mashima Hiro hit the target spot on so far (for a shounen), judging from my own tastes. Well after four chapters, it's very promising at least.